Jurgen Klopp has thanked Liverpool’s players for making new signing Takumi Minamino feel so welcome.
`The playmaker is now training at Melwood with his new team-mates, who according to the manager, have been brilliant with him.
Minamino seems to have settled in well, laughing throughout a session – and having fun with James Milner and then Sadio Mane.
The 24-year-old sadly isn’t allowed to play tonight against Sheffield United, but can feature against Everton in the FA Cup on January 5.
“From the next moment on, we are thinking about bringing him into the squad. Yesterday he was here, we had a very light session and he enjoyed it a lot,” Klopp told the official website.
“The boys were incredible with him – Sadio, Naby with the Salzburg genetic or DNA whatever. It was really nice. If I would like to be a new player, I would like to be a new player in that group because they welcome you with open arms. That’s really nice, I think he felt that. I’m not sure if [it] was a surprise, but he felt it. Communication-wise is really good, so his English is absolutely OK but the German is really good – it doesn’t help the team much but me! We can talk, we didn’t do it yesterday too much, just a little bit because it’s now important that he really settles. We signed the player he was at Salzburg, so that means he doesn’t have to change in the moment, just be who you are. Then we start working on that, that’s how it is. I’m looking forward to it.”
We don’t think there’ll be any more new signings this month, although would quietly like another fullback to take some of the pressure off either Trent Alexander-Arnold or Andy Robertson.
The drop-off in quality at right-back and left-back is currently enormous when one of those two doesn’t start – which in many ways is understandable considering they’re the best on the planet in their respective roles…
But a young, exciting attacking left-back, who is content to wait for his chances and develop, would undeniably benefit the squad.